Today we celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the great 19th century Italian opera composer, Giuseppe Verdi.

At least, October 10th is the date we choose to celebrate these days. Apparently, Verdi's mother told him he was born on October 9th, and, since he assumed mom knew best, Verdi always celebrated the 9th as his birthday— even when he later learned that a church registry indicated the date was more likely October 10th.

Verdi was born in Parma in 1813 when that part of Italy was under French rule. And so, Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was registered at birth as Joseph Fortunin François. His parent were dirt poor, but when Verdi died at the age of 87 in 1901, he was the most famous Italian of his time and his funeral was a state event involving thousands.

Verdi completed 37 operas, and, alongside Richard Wagner, who was also born in 1813, Verdi is considered the most influential opera composer of the 19th century.

In his day, Wagner's admirers called the German composer's operas more "progressive" than Verdi's more traditional works, but in his defense, Verdi's fans would probably quote a line that Hans Sachs sings in Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger: "Verachtet mir die Meister nicht," which translates something like, "Don't diss the old masters!"

Or, as Verdi himself put it in one of his letters, "Tornate all'antico e sarà un progresso," which in English means, "Let's turn to the past, and that will be progress."